I've found that the Linux Mint server I set up at work was great until the amount of files on the document management exceeded 10,000. Then things started to get bogged down. I received a lot of positive feedback about the ease of administering it (since the GUI is so friendly), so I'm going to spend some more time tinkering with it. I'm planning:

Mint is excellent on the desktop. Yes, you can make it into a server but why re-invent a really excellent set of Mag wheels which are available 'off the shelf' over at Contribs.SME server http://wiki.contribs.org/Main_Page.

This server is SOOO simple.1. Put the CD in & reboot2. Answer the questions3. Remove the keyboard & monitor (if you want to)4. Use your browser to login & set your users up.5. Use one of the groupware versions if you want/need that functionality.6. Forget about it. It just works & keeps working.

I think the main idea initially was to make mint into a 'home' server strictly for the sake of fun and familiarity. If I were to use a server in a business environment I would go for either Server 2003 or CentOS based on having experience with them. That SME server looks cool, and I'll definitely have to check it out whenever I get some free time to mess around.

Now that I've moved on to a different job and finished school I don't really have time to toy with Linux on servers, and since I run a game server out of my house already on an NT machine, I use it alternately as a file server, and remote in with dyndns when I need to. Still cool to see that this thread is getting some interest.

Would it be possible for you to explain how you went about slimming down Mint? I currently have a Mint 5 box as a file/print- server, running at 110MB RAM when Gnome is loaded. Would love a few tips and hints on how to get it running even lighter.

As I need to be able to use firefox, k3b, f-spot and transmission I have to have a GUI running. Otherwise I would just set up a headless server for file and printer sharing.

I ran into this old thread when searching for remote desktop on Linux Mint.

Now 4 years later from when it was started, it still seems to be as great an idea as ever. Linux Mint (and probably many/most other) distributions are either desktop oriented or server oriented, with the latter often running no GUI.

Linux Mint is a great distribution and I absolutely love the GUI. It's been also one of only ones that has kept with the old Gnome style. Ubuntu, Fedora and many others have opted for Unity or Gnome 3 with a GUI that seems to be more suitable for small screens and touch pads. I have 26" of screen real estate and don't want to hide icons and shortcuts.

Yet I do have the need for server applications and easy to use administration utils that have a GUI.

Unfortunately LM13 has even dropped some basic functionality such as the remote desktop configuration applet (it needs to be setup manually, though it's pretty easy to do). (I think it was available in LM 9.) Other things that are missing are LVM option in the installer (Ubuntu has it), as well as better Xen hypervisor integration and tools to setup domUs.

I've got a pretty strong PC and would love to use it as a remote desktop server with thin clients. The ideal solution would be an application server combined with VDI. Well, I know this pretty much to ask for, but why not?

My opinion is that there is no reason to have Mint server. Because Mint is design to be desktop distribution.There are many other distribution what are better for server use. So I don't think it's wise to use resources to try to do everyting for everyone.Better just be excelent in one thing (desktops), than try to be moderate in many things.